Monopoly, my favorite board game "accessoration" is having it's 75th birthday!!!! In honor of the occasion Hasbro has created a, soon to be available, birthday edition named Revolution. Forgoing it's traditional square board for a new round one, using credit cards instead of paper money for digital banking, and changing the names of the familiar color coded properties.... according to Hasbro the game is still the same!!!!

For those of us who grew up in the 60's, the most important "accessoration" on our polo shirt's was theembroidered Lacoste "alligator" ..... it is an iconic logo and the forerunner of penguins, bears, horses, etc, and the giant Ralph Lauren Polo Player!!!!! Lacoste is trying to breath new life into the alligator with the help of world renowned Brazilian designers Fernando & Humberto Campana. The brother's have designed 4 limited-edition shirts that were hand-made at the Coopa-Roca Women's Co-operative in Rochina, Brazil, updating a traditional "accessoration!!!"

Available at Moss and Moss Online, the 4 shirt styles are ...... women's all-over lace-applique (edition of 12), men's all over lace-applique (edition of 12), men's "alligator pools" (edition of 125), and women's "lianes" or "vines" (edition of 125). The pattern of "alligator pools" on the mens shirts is influenced by the "anavihanas", small fluvial islands in the Amazon; and the women's shirt is influenced by the "vines" that grow in the trees in the tropical rain forests.

I think this "accessoration" project is extremely innovative and it also serves an important purpose ...... it engages the women of the co-op in a project that enables them to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of their families, and it continues the development of the traditional Brazilian hand-craft techniques. Giving back is the most important "accessoration" of all!!!!!

This work is deigned by innovative San Francisco industrial designers, Mike & Maaike. The reclaimed, hardwood shelf is combined with books selected by curator Athmeya Jayaram. Titled Juxtaposed: Power, the shelf has slots specifically cut to house seven seminal books about power and society. The "sculpture" includes 2,451 pages, 2390 years, 2251 wars, 432 revolutions, 90 empires, 7 books, 1 shelf. The piece is offered in a limited edition of 50 and is the second in a series of curated bookshelves, the first work was a collection about religion. Both "shelves" were produced by design company Blankblank.

"What should we value most-freedom or security? And who should decide- the few or the many, individuals or groups, humanity or God? For the first time, the world's most seminal texts on power and its relationship to the ordering of society are brought together and presented on the same level."

My favorite "accessorations" are books and art, and this is a spectacular design that incorporates both, as well as the idea of perfect minimalism (not something I am very familiarwith!!) You have the perfect tomes on the perfect shelf, and are never overbooked, as I am!!!!!! Tables, chairs, the floor and sometimes even my bed are covered......no place to eat, sit, stand, or sleep!!!!!

Milanese artist and illustrator Piero Fornasetti was the creator of over 11,000 witty and imaginative patterned decorative objects. He died in 1988 and his son Barnaba, "is perpetuating the workshop tradition, continuing the production and reviving the most popular pieces, creating new ones," keeping his Father's whimsical, humorous, and elegant designs alive. Recently, in the basement, he found a plastic form of a vase that had never been produced and he used it as the jumping off point for this imaginative and off-beat collection of objects; vases, teapots, a tale, etc.. According to the Fornasetti company, these stunning pieces, produced by licensee Bitossi Ceramiche, will "travel" from display at the Spazio Fornasetti to be shown at Barneys New York in mid-May.

These pieces are the ultimate collectibles, the most fabooooooolous "accessorations" ...... I would do back flips to get one ...... and that would look pretty silly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alexandra Penney is one of the most interesting, talented, tasty & chic women I know. She is supremely smart, an artist with a unique voice, able to juggle a million things in the air.... writer, photographer, and an "accessorator" supreme!!! She just came off a lousy year, an implosion supreme, something unimaginable and guess what ..... she once again turned really crappy lemons into really yummy lemonade!!!!

Last week her book, The Bag Lady Papers, was published by Hyperion Books. The book, in true AP fashion, is a witty, charming, humorous and moving take on how she handled having her "greatest fear" become a reality. An enormously successful woman; editor-in-chief of Self magazine, best selling author, and dedicated artist ....... "she always harbored a secret fear that she would become a bag lady if she ever lost her life's savings." Her worst nightmare became a reality last December when she found out that "everything" had vanished overnight in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. This book is her story of renewal and reinvention ...... discovering what is meaningful and what is really unimportant ....something we should really all be thinking about!!!!

Alexandra is a powerful example for all us girls...... showing strength, courage, passion, and guts ........ she put herself out for the world to see and anyone who takes a shot at her or the book should be "bitch slapped"....... she works hard, with great passion and drive, she can laugh at herself, and let herself cry too ......... but the most important thing is that she picked herself up, dusted herself off and started over again!!!!!!!!!

In truth, I think I might have gotten into my bed with my bunnie slippers and a box of Godiva instead but I honestly hope I would be as graceful as Alexandra!!!!!